Process of leaching ores.



PATBNTED NOV. 19, 1907.

A. SGHWARZ.

PROCESS OF LEAGHING ORES.

APPLIOATION FILED FEB. 1, 1906.

INVENTOR r v 4 6 WITNESSES:

l/m ATTORNEY I by gravity in a fine stre 40 cndof one is below the pianool tho UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALFRED SOHWARZ, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO SUHWARZ ENGINEE OFNEWYORKI, N. Y., ACORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

RING COMPANY,

PROCESS OF LEACHING ORES.

To all whom it. may concern:

Be it known that l, ALFRED Scnwanz, a i'blocks 8 ma subject of thelln'iperor oi Germany, and a resident of the borough of Manhattan, city,5 county, :and State of N cw York, have invented certain new andusefulImprovements in Processes of Leaching Ores, of which the fol-, jlowing is a specification.

' The presentinven'tion relates to a method 1.0 of leaching ores theprimary object being to expose every particle of the ore to the leachingsolution in order to ell'ect a practically complete recovery of thevalues. This is accomplished by causing the ore to descend am throughthe leaching' solution. The accompanying drawing illustrates one form ofapparatus by which the invention maybe practiced and in which Figure] isa vertical section, the air supply pipe being shown in elevation; Fig. 2is a horizontal section on the plane of the line "2-'-2 of Fig. 1; andFig. 3 is a detail view. Similar reference numerals indicate similarparts in the several views.

Referring to the drawing, the numeral 1 indicates a vat or tank thedcpth of which may be varied according to the particular orc treated or.the quantity of ore undergoing treatment. Supported within said tank isa 'i'ramc-work comprising uprights 2 held together bys'uitable tic rods3. Fastcncd upon two opposite sides ol' the interior of thc fra1no-workare" blocks 4 which servo as supports for aserics ol' hoppers 5 anynumber oi which may be employed according to circumstances. Thosehoppers are pyramidal or conical in form and arranged one above theother and preferably so that the lower top of tho one next below, asindicated in the drawing. The openings 6 at the apiccs of thc hoppersare made of such diameter as to pcrmit ore to descend thcrcthrough in avery lino stream and at a conmarativcy slow rate so as to socure thecomplete breaking up oi the strcams of ore and to all'ord an op mrtunityfor the solvent to act upon the metallic constituents of-thc ore. inorder to vary thc size ol thc openings 6 to meet conditions presented byditl'ercntorcs and to regulate the rate of flow of the ore i may cniplo)blocks 7 ol' the form shownin Fig. 3. These blocks are adapted to beseated in the lowcr part oi'thc hoppers and are, provided with a centrallongitudinal openl i r l i l I l l l ing 8 for t.

Patented Nov. 19, 1907.

he passage of the ore. Sets of y be utilized each set being made withthe openings 8 of different diameters.

in leaching ores method the the level in according to the present vat ortank 1 1s iilled to about dicatcd m Fig. l=w1th asolvent 9 determined bythe particular ore treated. The hoppers 5 except the top-most-arecompletely submerged in the solution, the level of the latter howeverbeing above the outlet ol. the top ore is then -most hopper. The'mlverized discharged mto the top hopperthe opening (5 ol which permitsit to descend by gravity stream.

in a constant and regulated This line stream of ore is 'i1nn1e dlatclydlvidcd as it enters the quiescent solvent and spr ads out, from theopening in the hopper for a short distance in a cloud-like form. it thensettles gradually and quietly in thc hoppcr next munedlatcly below fromwhich it in to the next turn passes through the solvent hopper and so onthroughout the series of hoppcrs from top to bottom of the tank.

The ore will thus be arrested in its I downward movement giving thesolvent fur ther opportunity to act upon it while it is held in thehoppers. pers or the opcnmgs gradi'iatc ncXt lowcr to accumul though asn d so as to contract 'ill be The openings 6 in the hop- 8 in the blocks7 may be from one to the g the escape of the 1d permitting it theseveral hoppers, al understood, after the opcrthus rctardin ate in ationis once l'ully started by an accumulation in thc lowcr-most l ioppcr thcflow from one to the other will be continuous, there being at the sametime a of tailings continuous discharge from the lower-most hopper.

,llnring lhcsc successive passages thc ore is acted upon into solutiona1 lower-most chargcd up thcncc carried by convenient necessary, scribedin a date luircwith.

without the aid of n without dis naturally d by the solvent, the valuesgoing [(l the tailings received in the hopper from which they-arc dis onthe inclined bottom 10 and a discharge pipe 11 to any vcsscl l'orfurther treatment if n to a valve oi the Gllt'tlttOl'Ol don applicationtiled by me of even The solution when sat uratcd wn oil through a branchpipe 12 ipitation oi the values thcrcl'rom.

soon from the foregoing descripic leaching oi the ore is oil'ectodicchanical agitators and turbancc of thc ore except that uc to thefalling of the orc by Q emsoo gravity through the quiescent solutionfrom hopper to hopper. This disturbance however is amply sufficient toexpose every particle of the ore to the action of the solvent andresults in an effective solution of the values. Under certain conditionsit may be necessary to assist the solvent action by the presence o'fair.For that purpose Iarrange a pipe 13 along one side of the tank, saidpipe being connected to a suitable source of air supply. Branches l4 lea;lfroni pipe 13 and terminate in proXirnityto the openings 6 of thehoppers so as to distribute the air in the presence of the fallingstream of ore by the successiveipassages of the ore from care beingtaken, hox've'ver, that the air pressure shall not be sufficient tointerfere with the proper descent of the ore.

The present invention I have found 'par ticularly adapted to therecovery of gold by the cyanid. process. In that case the tank will befilled With any standard cyanid solution, the gold and silver beingdissolved out the several hoppers through the solvent;

The final recovery of the metals from the somanner.

lution may be-eflected in any well known What I claim-and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1'. The method herein described consisting in causing the ore to descendby gravity ini-a continuous stream through a series of vertrcallydisposed hoppers having graduated dis-- charge orifices, said hoppersbeing submerged in a quiescent leaching solution.

quiescent solvent, and introducing air into said solventv 1n thepresence of the telling stream of ore.

In Witness whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two 35 z 2. The method of leaching ores consisting v vincausing the ore to descend by gravity through a series of hopperssubmerged III-8,;

